Gang Chen, an MIT professor and nanotechnology expert, faces federal charges of hiding affiliations with China. His colleagues, and MIT, have publicly protested. According to the New York Times, more than 160 members of the MIT faculty have signed a letter arguing that the Chinese affiliations Dr. Chen is accused of hiding were routine academic activities, such as reviewing grant proposals, and not ones that clearly required disclosure.

In a letter to the MIT Community, L. Rafael Reif, president of the university clears that MIT established a collaboration with SUSTech in 2018 to create the Centers for Mechanical Engineering Research and Education, at MIT and SUSTech. While Professor Chen is its inaugural MIT faculty director, this is not an individual collaboration; it is a departmental one, supported by the Institute.